I consider myself pretty playful, but Denise was equal to it. She and I had a great time exploring the wilds of Montpelier, Vermont, both in town and out of it. We showed each other our favorite secret places, eateries, trails, and bookstores. I liked her, she liked me.

One day I woke up to a message slid under my front door. Denise had made a scavenger hunt for me! I followed the directions in the note and found another note in the location it specified. That second note directed me to a third one, and so on. What a fun way to spend a day off!

After a couple of hours (and some pretty tough clues) I found my way onto a hiking trail we both knew. The clues in the last note pointed me towards a certain distinctive tree and I made for it.

When I arrived at it, a little way off the trail, I found a bloody lump of raw meat with a note sticking out of it. It was gross, covered with flies, and smelled horrible. I picked out the note as carefully as I could and opened it.

It read, "THE END," and nothing more.

No happy surprise. No Denise. No explanation. Just THE END and meat.

My phone had no signal out there, so I headed back to town and called Denise to ask for some sort of explanation. She didn't answer and I left a message.

When a day had gone by and I hadn't heard back I went to her house to check up on her. She wasn't there and there was no answer at her door. On my way home I called her again and left another message.

When I arrived back at my place, there was another, smaller pile of meat right at my front door. No note. No anything. Just meat.

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